10,000 Hours of LM2500 Gas Turbine Experience as Seen Through the Borescope

The General Electric LM2500 Marine Gas Turbine, currently used by the United States Navy as main propulsion on various classes of ships, lends itself very easily to a procedure known as photoborescopy. Photoborescopy is that process where discrete, color photographs are taken of various internal parts of the engine. Borescoping in itself is not new, but maximizing the borescopes capabilities is a program that the U.S. Navy continuously is developing at the Naval Ship Systems Engineering Station (NAVSSES) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This paper will describe the photoborescopy technique used by NAVSSES and also give and show graphically the Fleet experience with two LM2500’s which had accumulated 10,000 hours of successful at-sea operation. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily of the Department of Defense or the Navy Department.